Kinectless Xbox One is “Good for the Consumer,” says Kinect Designer

Whether you like the Kinect sensor or not, there’s no doubt that Microsoft’s decision to unbundle it from the Xbox One was a huge shift for the company. How does Carl Ledbetter, the guy in charge of the team that developed the device, feel about it?

It’s “good for the consumer,” Ledbetter says in a new interview with Develop. He says that “by having more choice for the consumer, and a new point of entry for them, it’s great. Somebody can now buy the console and who knows?”

The interview also goes into some of the design history that led to the Kinect we see today. Microsoft had toyed with building the Kinect sensor into the Xbox One console, but as we know today, that would’ve been a tough decision to undo. They also considered privacy concerns, choosing to highlight the way the system works, rather than obscuring it.

Check out the full interview for some more detailed discussion of the sensor.